On August 28, 2025, Parmigiani Fleurier opened a boutique in Ginza, in a prime location on Chuo-dori. We spoke to CEO Guido Terreni about the intention behind opening the boutique.
Photograph by Yu Mitamura
Masamasa Hirota (this magazine): Interview and writing
Text by Masayuki Hirota (Chronos-Japan)
Edited by Yukiya Suzuki (Chronos-Japan)
[Article published in the July 2025 issue of Kronos Japan]
The key is to narrow down and clarify what is important
CEO of Parmigiani Fleurier. Born in Italy in 1969. After graduating with a degree in business administration from Luigi Bocconi University, he joined Bulgari. After serving as product manager for men's watches and general manager of watch products, he became marketing director and then head of the watch division. He has held his current position since January 2021. The success of the Tonda PF is dramatically changing Parmigiani Fleurier's public image.
"There were no plans to open a boutique in the first place. My partner proposed it to me a year ago. The frontage is small, but the total floor area, including the first floor, is 75.3 square meters. The visibility was excellent. It was good for making a statement about the brand, and it's extremely difficult to get a location like this."
Incidentally, the partner they chose is not a watch retailer, but a retailer that mainly imports and sells Italian jewelry in this building. However, will there be any problems with operation even though it is not a watch specialty store?
"No, I don't think there's a problem. They make watches and luxury items in other countries, and they also provide education."
What surprised me about this boutique was how unusual it was for a watch boutique. The interior and exterior, designed by Swiss firm Atelier Oi, looked like a living room. I commented that it looked plain at first glance, but that a lot of money had gone into it, and Tereni agreed.
"The atmosphere was important to us in the boutique. The large panels showing the sky allow the watches to be seen in natural light. We wanted to create a luxurious look without shining a spotlight on them, which is quite difficult to achieve."
This new model achieves an extremely refined design by separating the date and day of the week, and the month and leap year, each onto two separate subdials. Despite being a perpetual calendar, the case thickness has been kept to just 10.9mm, a clever move. Its design is highly sought after, yet its minimalism is unmatched. Manual winding (Cal. PF733). 29 jewels. 28,800 vph. Power reserve of approximately 60 hours. 18KRG case (40.6mm diameter, 10.9mm thick). Water resistant to 30m. Limited to 50 pieces worldwide. 1397 million yen (tax included).
The reason why the vertically long panels do not look out of place is because they emphasize the vertical space.
"The design does not block the vertical flow, and light rises from the bottom up. We left the openings large to create a comfortable space. However, since this is a boutique in Tokyo, we also incorporated Japanese culture. The lights on the second floor change shape like origami and come in different colors, such as gray and brown. We also tried to reflect the brand's philosophy of playing with color."
However, it is rare that I have seen such a perfect match between a boutique and a watch. If you are in this boutique, you can imagine what a Parmigiani Fleurier watch looks like without even seeing it.
"Consistency is important. I want to provide the same value in both advertising and the boutique. It's important to align the concepts and create harmony."
Another thing is that the boutique offers absolutely no information about founder Michel Parmigiani or his exceptional craftsmanship - it doesn't even have a book about the house, so pared-down it's all the more stark.
"Of course, Michel Parmigiani is our origin, but I think it's important to make it a permanent fixture. To do that, we need to extract and present its essence."
